Actual shooting starts on Thursday the 18th. But we all went out and did some test shooting, and here's two images from that. Keep in mind that these are not shots from the movie, and the actors are not in costume or makeup (although their costumes aren't really all that different from these). The shots were just quickly lit, not quite how the final movie will be lit. But it does give you an idea of how the actors look and what the location is like.

Alex. I'm not quite sure if I like the framing of Nicole in this shot; I'll have to work on that.

These are really just to show you guys that, yes, this project is actually moving forward.

We did some sound tests as well, and it sounds absolutely great. I'm looking forward to the first day of actual shooting. Again, this is mostly to show you that we're actually getting work done, and not a respresentation of how the final movie will look.

EDIT:

I realized that you can't really tell what the actress looks like from that photo, so here's her headshot.

I'm not quite sure if I like the framing of Nicole in this shot; I'll have to work on that.

Yeah, over-the-shoulders like that tend to look best when the person whose shoulder it's over is flush with the edge of the frame. In other words, shove her over six inches to the right.

EDIT:In hindsight, I think you were referring to the second image... in which case, having her stand on an apple box ought to do the trick.

No, you were right the first time. I was talking about the first image, the over-the-shoulder. I agree with you, I think I should frame her more to the right, and either have them stand closer together or use a longer lens to get their heads to be closer to the same size (her head looks much bigger than his in that shot).

As far as the second shot goes, it's fine. Perhaps I should shift the camera a bit down, but basically, he's meant to be towering above her. She's meant to look tiny, and that's their natural height difference which works for the movie anyway.

Your compositions look very nice. To what extent will you be color correcting in post?

Thank you. Those pictures have been color corrected to some extent. Looks vary from computer screen to computer screen. But these were just color corrected just as stills, and not as the final movie, and they have not been corrected to match all the other shots yet. They do, however, look approximately the way I want the finished movie to look.

I will be doing a lot of adjustments such as color correction in post, to every single shot, to get the right look, mood, and match to the whole movie.

Quote from: Ghostboy

Have you finished shoot already, Matt? If so, congrats. How do you feel about it at the moment? Also, cut a demo/trailer together! Inquiring minds are curious!

Nope, I haven't finished shooting. As I continue, I'll post a few more pictures up, perhaps, although the whole movie takes place in one spot, so they won't look much different than these.

I feel good about it, however. Everything is cutting together very well. The only problem has been that there is a helicopter noise in the background. Something was going on and a helicopter was circling nearby all day. But I feel that I can mix the sound very well, still, with what I've captured. There's really only one scene that's affected by that and if I determine that we should reshoot it, I have an extra day to reshoot that.

Perhaps I will cut together a trailer when I finish shooting. I'm glad you guys think it looks good. Especially from the people who've read the screenplay, I'd like to know how you think it's looking based on that.

Nice little sneak peek.From one who's read it, I think it's looking right on from what I see here. The lead actor has a nice sinister look of sorts going on in his eyes in that first shot. From these images, it appears you've got the look of the characters down.You really can't go wrong with the setting you chose. Judging from the backgrounds of these shots, it looks like you picked a nice area with a variety of natural set decoration.The colors came out quite nice.So far, good job, God right, can't wait to see the final product.

Like Hemmingway said, you should talk about the project as little as possible when it's in the making. You write it in the air and it'll take your interest away.

I interpreted what he said as if you just talk about it then your interest goes away. That is, if you wrote it in the air instead of on paper, by the time you sat down, you wouldn't feel like writing it again (on paper this time).

I don't know if that's the same thing as showing you what I've already done. This is effecively meant to play as a trailer, since I haven't cut a trailer (I may or may not).

At least, I don't feel particularly disinterested in the project anymore. Actually, I'm getting more excited as I see it come together (since I'm in editing right now). But I can understand the point of keeping the whole thing under wraps until it's ready to be shown full-on.

No, it's not in motion. But there are little camera mounts you can buy that mostly just stick onto the side of the car, which I guess is safe if you drive under like 35mph.

I'll just repost all of the pictures for this page.

Thanks for the responses so far. I might cut a trailer later on (if I can think of an interesting trailer to cut, since the movie takes place in one spot, mostly.)

Quote from: kotte

You haven't written it in the air but you are close to showing us everything.But perhaps not, hope you have some great stuff you won't show us.

Does that mean that the stuff I've shown so far isn't great? (just kidding)

You guys aren't just a standard audience, though. You're Xixax and I'm showing you guys this stuff to use all of your combined knowledges and experiences and particularly skilled eyes to help me see what I can't see with my own eyes. When you make a movie, you're so deep into it that you just can't see what it looks like anymore to fresh eyes.

So that, plus the whole hoping it gets you all interested thing, is the purpose of showing these pictures.